Barbra Banda set to light up World Cup as Katie McCabe allays injury concerns

Germany is many an educated gambler’s tip to win the Women’s World Cup. Most bookmakers have them as fourth favourites behind USA, England and Spain at an enticing 8-1 despite losing 3-2 at home to Zambia last Friday.

The Zambians are 1000-1 to win the tournament outright with some bookies but those odds could prove misleading. Certainly if Barbra Banda gets on the ball.

That was far from a certainty until Fifa confirmed last December that the 23-year-old is eligible to play when the tournament kicks off next Thursday with co-hosts New Zealand and Australia facing Norway and the Republic of Ireland respectively.

Banda was banned from last year’s African Nations Cup after a gender verification test found her natural testosterone levels were too high to compete as a woman. Human Rights Watch branded the sex testing procedures as “flagrant human rights violations”, especially considering this ruling came after Banda scored back-to-back hat-tricks against the Netherlands and China at the 2021 Olympic Games.

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Fifa cleared Banda to play on grounds that teams are responsible for carrying out their own internal investigations into high testosterone levels, the Daily Mail has reported, but German media outlet Bild states that a move to Real Madrid was scuppered by the controversy surrounding the player.

Last month, Banda lit up Tallaght Stadium with pace and power in possession that threatened to overwhelm Vera Pauw’s usually sturdy Irish defence. Ireland escaped with a 3-2 victory that became increasingly encouraging following Banda’s stunning brace to sink the Germans in Fürth.

“We were surprised of course [by Zambia beating Germany] but we also knew they were so strong and it is so difficult to stop them going forward,” said Pauw before an open training session outside Brisbane on Wednesday. “We scored three against them, Germany only scored two, so it shows we are improving.”

The Zambian skipper’s second strike in Germany should make Group C opponents Spain, Japan and Costa Rica sit up and take notice. It was a sensational finish after her darting run left veteran centre half Kathrin Hendrich for dust.

The first World Cup in Australia and New Zealand appears to have an incoming super star to rival any athlete the women’s game has ever seen.

“I think so yeah,” Pauw agreed. “An exceptional player and of course we knew about her so I think the tactical way we approached her, although you seen that she is so strong sometimes we could not manage. But our tactical approach, I think, had been very good to stop her from doing what she is very good at.”

Meanwhile, Ireland captain Katie McCabe took a full part in Wednesday’s session under floodlights at Meakin Park as the squad ran jet lag out of their legs. McCabe was forced off against France last Thursday with an ankle injury but she looks primed to face Colombia on Friday in a non-capped friendly at the same time Australia play France in Melbourne.

“We do know we will be pushed back by the big nations,” said Pauw. “But we also know that we can go forward. And we also feel that we have shown that in the Zambia game when it was really pre-season, players were only a week and a half on the pitch. So I’m realistic. I think we can only go and do better and better all the time.”

What is abundantly clear from the 11 versus 11 training match is the team Pauw has settled upon is the same line-up she started against France with Marissa Sheva in an attacking role and Megan Connolly at centre half.

“Don’t think we have a secret lying under the table,” admitted Pauw. “These days every player is known, everybody is known to everyone else. We are fully prepared for Australia [on July 20th] but we are realistic. We know the power of Australia is huge, their strength is especially their power. Over the wings and the centre, at the back, they overpower and press everywhere. It is so difficult to play against. But we need to deal with that.

“That is why we’re here, that is what we’re proud of, I’ve said that so many times. We will give our all, we will not be afraid, we will not hide because of a fear of failure because we don’t have that.”